Interpret Some Misunderstandings Of Carbon Fiber

For”carbon fiber“This word must be familiar to everyone. It represents high technology and high performance, and is sought after by people. With the rise in popularity of carbon fiber and the expansion of the field of use, some products will be advertised with “” For the three words “carbon fiber”, there are still some misunderstandings in people’s concepts. The following editor will briefly talk about it.

Misunderstanding 1: Confusing carbon fiber with carbon fiber reinforced composite materials

The relationship between carbon fiber and carbon fiber reinforced composite materials is like flour and dry food, that is, carbon fiber is the raw material, but producing high-performance composite materials according to demand is the difficulty and key point.In terms of physical composition: carbon fiber is almost entirely composed of “carbon” (usually more than 95%) and is a fibrous carbon material; carbon fiber reinforced composite materials need to add many elements to meet higher use requirements, often with resin combine.

The most common ones are polyacrylonitrile-based fiber, viscose yarn and pitch-based fiber, etc., with different characteristics and grades.

Misunderstanding 2: When carbon fiber is mentioned, it is considered to be a high-end material

When it comes to carbon fiber materials, the first thing we can think of is that they are strong, lightweight and expensive (compared to traditional materials). Of course, this is not bad because it can be applied to aerospace. The carbon fiber materials of F1 racing cars are indeed All are high-end products. But this does not mean that there are no low-end carbon fiber products. The uneven production quality and manufacturing process are the key to distinguishing high-end and low-end products.

In fact, carbon fiber is just a broad definition of material. According to the type of raw fiber, there are usually types such as polyacrylonitrile-based fiber, viscose fiber, and pitch-based fiber. Different raw materials mean different carbonization yields. Among them, carbon fiber produced from polypropylene has the largest output (accounting for about 95% of the market). Its carbonization rate is about 50%-60%, which is in a relatively high range. Using pitch fiber as raw material, the carbonization rate can be Reaching 80-90%, and at the same time lower cost, it is also a type currently actively developed. In addition, carbon fiber cnc machining processes range from 300-2000°C, and the resulting characteristics and costs are also very different.

Misunderstanding 3: Thinking that carbon fiber materials and Kevlar materials are the same

Carbon fiber has been introduced before, it is actually a kind of fibrous carbon material; Kevlar fiber material is the brand name of DuPont Company’s aramid fiber material products in the United States. Its chemical name should be: polypair Phthalyl-p-phenylenediamine is a man-made fiber material and has a similar process flow, so it does have similarities in visual perception, but it is actually different.

In terms of application, Kevlar material will be used in ordinary bulletproof armor and even tank bulletproof armor, and will not be replaced by carbon fiber material. The important reason for this is that Kevlar material has better toughness. Better plastic deformation can be used to absorb external impact energy; carbon fiber is brittle and will break when the external energy exceeds the limit value (modulus). There is no doubt that the modulus value of Kevlar is higher than that of carbon fiber. class material. Both are man-made high-strength fibers, but they are not the same.

There are many people who confuse carbon fiber with carbon fiber reinforcement, in fact, they are not the same. The carbon content of carbon fiber is very high, more than 95%. It is processed with polyacrylonitrile-based fiber, viscose fiber, pitch-based fiber, and phenolic-based fiber, while carbon fiber reinforced material is composited by carbon fiber and other materials. It has a lower carbon content. It’s not that carbon fiber reinforcement is not good, its performance is also good, but it is still different from carbon fiber.  

When it comes to carbon fiber, the first thing that comes to our mind is a very strong, light-weight, and expensive material, and in fact it also has grades. The materials used in planes, rockets, missiles, etc. must be very high-quality materials, while general living materials, such as carbon fiber fishing rods, carbon fiber brackets, etc., are of a slightly lower grade. The quality of carbon fiber is related to its raw silk, manufacturing equipment, production environment and production technology.  

The above are some misunderstandings of people’s understanding of carbon fiber. Sometimes people confuse carbon fiber with other fiber materials. In fact, it can be distinguished from the appearance. Carbon fiber is black and opaque, glass fiber is white, yellow, etc., which looks a bit transparent, and aramid fiber looks closer to natural fibers such as cotton and linen.

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ISO 9001 certified. BE-CU Prototype Offering CNC machining carbon fiber and other manufacturing services for carbon fiber marterial. Various capabilities include notching, labeling, drilling carbon fiber, grinding, laser cutting carbon fiber, finishing, plating, marking, CNC milling carbon fiber and turning carbon fiber.We stock high quality 3k carbon fiber sheet in a variety of thickness, types and finish. Its a great material used in applications where light weight and strength are needed such as drones. Unlike other workshops, we have no min order and are often filling orders with a single part. We also don’t make you pay for the full sheet and you only get charged for what is used. With a large selection of material, you should find everything you need to make your project come to life. We are also able to handle larger production runs and provide a competitive pricing. If we don’t have the material or finish you require, we are more the willing to look at bringing it in for you.

What Is Carbon Fiber?Carbon fiber is made of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) (or pitch, viscose) and other organic fibers by carbonization (removal of most elements except carbon) by pyrolysis method under inert gas at high temperature above 1,000 °C. Inorganic polymer fibers with a carbon content of more than 90%.